Bay View High School senior Darius Lee said the best way to turn around the reputation of his school is for students to get out into the community and put in some sweat equity.

Last week, Lee worked with first-year social studies teacher Derek Beyer to coordinate about 60 students in a community cleanup. The school's marching band also pitched in, giving new meaning to "whistle while you work."

The school's Renaissance Club has slowly been changing the reputation of the school, one community service event at a time. Students have helped make compost at Sweet Water Organics; fed the needy a week after Thanksgiving at the Turkey Bowl; volunteered at Feeding America; sorted and labeled books for Books 4 Kids; volunteered at St. Ann's Community Center; scrubbed baseboards and mopped at the Walker's Point Teen Runaway Shelter; and helped prepare beds at Repairers of the Breach.

This is impressive when you consider that just eight months ago, Ald. Tony Zielinski said, "This school as it is now is not a safe school."

Lee, 18, knows it will be hard to change the school's reputation, but he reminded me that many of the school's problems were caused by a small group of bad apples.

"A majority of us do the right thing," he said while picking up trash and cigarette wrappers along the 2400 block of S. Kinnickinnic Ave.

While the school still has a ways to go, it appears to be headed in the right direction. Bay View Principal Jonathan Leinfelder said suspensions are down 14% from last year, while attendance and school participation are up.

Leinfelder told me that last year there would not have been this level of participation.

"We're turning the corner," he said. "Now we want people to see it because we are a part of this community."

Last year, the school was in the news for all the wrong reasons.

In October, police arrested 30 students after a fight in the school cafeteria turned into a brawl that put the school under "lockdown."

Those arrested were issued disorderly conduct citations. Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Gregory Thornton vowed that those responsible would be expelled or transferred and that things would change.

Instead of trying to fix things internally, MPS asked for help from the Bay View community. After several community listening sessions, the Milwaukee School Board approved a plan to phase out the school's middle-school grades and bring in a science, technology, engineering and math component.

Everyone who remained at the school was required to recommit themselves to the school and to the community.

One of the main problems with Bay View is that the school has the second-highest percentage of students bused in from other neighborhoods of any school in the district.

"We have about 42 buses coming to the school every day," Leinfelder said. "We would like to bring in more students from the community."

The school has struggled academically. Last year, it was cited as one of the lowest-performing high schools by the state Department of Public Instruction, and that brought extra federal dollars for turnaround efforts and a team of consultants to help with improvement.

Beyer said when it comes to MPS, too many people like to focus on the negative when there are hundreds of kids who do the right thing every day and don't get the recognition they deserve.

"We have never had a negative incident at any event we have attended. Most people want us to come back," Beyer said.

Those cleaning the neighborhood last week were a mix of backgrounds and ages. They were not all honor students. Some had special needs, and some struggled in school. But none of that mattered because they were working together as a team.

Cleaning up the neighborhood helps these kids learn more about the Bay View community and helps the community learn more about the kids.

As the marching band played and students picked up litter, some store owners and homeowners came out to the sidewalk and clapped and waved at the kids. Some cars honked in approval.

John McLaughlin stepped out on the front stairs of the Brass Rooster, a hat store, to pat his feet to the beat of the drums.

"This is fantastic," McLaughlin said. "The more kids you can get involved in the community, the more you can get them to become a part of the solution. And you can't go wrong with a marching band."

After the cleanup, students disposed of dozens of plastic bags back at the school before lining up for photos.

It was the last big project of the school year for the Renaissance Club, but Lee called it just the beginning.

"I have a lot of community service ideas," he said. "You have not heard the last of us. I'm already thinking of a way to make this bigger for the next class."